January 23, 2021
Sharing from the congregation – David Petty
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith... — Hebrews 11:39-12:2
I don’t often read of a group of people being called a cloud.
In fact, except for this familiar verse from Hebrews and various paraphrases, I don’t think I’ve ever read of it. The witnesses here are Old Testament figures listed previously in Chapter 11 — Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and many others. I suppose it might be that these are called a cloud because they are not fully visible and because they are “all around us.” But there are other possibilities.
Hebrews is so named because it was written to a group of Hebrews, or perhaps because it was written in the style of Hebrew writing of that era. There is a large body of Jewish literature from this period (and others), and it uses some typical literary techniques. One such technique is a type of allusion that uses a word or short phrase as a sort of “code” or “shorthand” that refers to longer passage (often in scripture). The closest I can come to a modern illustration would be the term “sour grapes.” Here the two simple words are intended to evoke Aesop’s complete little narrative of the fox and the grapes.
So possibly the word “cloud” is there to remind us of something in the Hebrew Scriptures. I know of three main uses of cloud imagery on the Old Testament. One is the cloud that led the Israelites through the wilderness (during the day) and that enveloped Moses when he spoke with God. Matthew, Mark, and Luke pick up this image in their descriptions of the transfiguration of Christ. Another image, in Isaiah 4:13, describes the Messiah as coming on the clouds. It’s used again in Daniel and several times in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, and Revelation).
But the Bible’s first mention of clouds, and it’s one that especially interests me, is a passage beginning with Genesis 9:13: “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” The passage occurs at the end of the story of the great flood, and the image (presumably a rainbow) represents God’s promises.
Of course I don’t know whether the writer of Hebrews actually intended to imply “promise” in 12:1, but it fits the context. Although these witnesses did not receive the promise, they were certain of it; and their testimony was in their actions. They are, to borrow a phrase from earlier in Chapter 11, evidence of things unseen.
That cloud of witnesses has grown a lot since Hebrews was written (we might want to call it a “crowd of witnesses.”) It includes many New Testament figures not mentioned there, as well as saints of the church and figures like Martin Luther and John Wesley. We have our own cloud of invisible witnesses from St. Mark; to our sorrow, several folks have left to join them in just the past few months.
But I would like to mention two other clouds. One is simply ourselves. In these days of social distancing, even those of us who are quite alive have become almost invisible to each other. Although we are apart, however, we surround and sustain each other. Second, I remind you of our pastor and church staff. We do get to see many of them occasionally, either online or on those occasions when we have been able to have sanctuary services. But for the most part they are an invisible cloud, supporting and nurturing our community — as they were long before the pandemic hit. Thank the Lord for all of these.
Gracefully submitted,
David Petty